1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing technique and particularly to an information processing apparatus including a function of reproducing an audio signal and an information processing method utilized in the information processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, due to the improvement of compressibility of an audio signals, the increase in memory capacity, the enhancement of network environments, etc., there is an increased number of situations where music data is carried and enjoyed at different places. As one-segment partial reception services have become widely used, viewing TV programs by using mobile terminals has also become more generalized. Under any environment, there is always ambient sound that is produced. At the same time, information terminals that receives an e-mail, home electric appliances that have completed a process selected by a user, etc., all producing notification sounds indicating information accordingly, have become more common. In today's typical world, there are more occasions, regardless of a user's preference, to hear a sound such as audio or notification sounds produced by electric devices.
For example, when receiving a phone call or an e-mail while listening to music on a mobile phone, a notification sound indicating an incoming alert is generally output while the music is still playing. However, when the music is playing at a high volume, the notification sound may be undetected. In order to prevent the notification sound from being undetected, one possible option is to temporarily stopping the music while the notification sound is produced. However, it can be often annoying to have the music stopped for each unexpected incoming call or an e-mail. As described above, the notification sound is often produced unexpectedly regardless of the user's intention. Thus, it is not preferable to have such another sound produced while one enjoys contents that is audio-based, such as music, TV programs, or radio programs.